Aston Villa seem to have a strategy this season: go down a goal early in the first half, then rally for the equalizer. But despite sticking with that method against Liverpool on Saturday, Villa never managed to find that equalizer. Daniel Sturridge gave the Reds the lead in the 21st minute, and despite a barrage of pressure by the Villa in the second half, held on to leave Birmingham with all three points.

Paul Lambert’s strategy didn’t go quite to plan this time around — perhaps because Liverpool took over twenty minutes to score their first goal? It was an absolutely lovely one, though. The Reds flew up the pitch, easily passing through the Villa midfield. Jose Enrique sent the ball in from the left, with Sturridge waiting in the center. The forward sidestepped through two claret and blue shirts, exposing the obvious flaws in the home side’s defense. Brad Guzan came out in an attempt to block the shot, but the goalkeeper slipped a little, making it easy for Sturridge to dance around him. With a Villa defender closing in, Sturridge took his shot from a tight angle, sending the ball into the roof of the net.

Just like in the midweek match against Chelsea, Villa came to life around the 40 minute mark. Unlike at Stamford Bridge, Christian Benteke was unable to find an equalizer before the halftime whistle blew. The Belgian had a terrific chance in the 42nd minute, holding off the Liverpool defense to get himself into a good shooting position. Benteke managed a sharp shot on target, but a diving Simon Mignolet managed to get his fingertips on the ball and push it out of danger.

The home side did much better in the second half, but they just couldn’t get by the Liverpool defense. Ashley Westwood made a couple of speculative attempts from distance, but they inevitably went high. Substitute Aleksander Tonev, making his Villa debut, quickly forced Mignolet into a save. Gabby Agbonlahor missed a golden opportunity when the ball fell to his feet, placing his shot just wide of the post.

Benteke sent in a wonderful volley in the 86th minute, but Mignolet pulled out a fantastic save, diving to his left to push the ball away. By the end of the match, Lambert had four forwards on the pitch and had shifted Leandro Bacuna to right back to help in the attack, but nothing seemed to work for the Villa manager.

Liverpool, for that part, felt content with the “bunker” part of “bunk and counter.” Their only shot of any note was one from Glen Johnson, and that attempt prompted angry yells from his teammates. There was plenty of space for Johnson to get into a good position, or to cross for one of his teammates, but instead the right back sent his shot very wide and very high. There was a shout for a penalty in the dying minutes of the match, when Guzan came out to keep Sturridge from scoring a second, but Mark Clattenburg felt there was no reason to point to the spot.

It may have been a loss for Aston Villa, but the young side will be relieved to walk away from this difficult stretch having picked up three points from their first three matches. Liverpool, meanwhile, will be thrilled with two wins in a row, and both of them clean sheets as well. However, next up for the Reds is hosting Manchester United at Anfield.

Never mind all that: Harry Kane was healthy, and scored three goals as Spurs kept pace with group mates Real Madrid in filing a 3-0 win at APOEL Nicosia in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

Kane said he was very proud of the side’s performance, as youngster Anthony Georgiou and seldom-used Georges-Kevin N’Koudou put in shifts in the win. From the BBC:

“We weren’t pleased with the first-half and a couple of chances could have gone the other way. We were more clinical and in the Champions League that is what you have got to be.

“We are missing a few players but the lads who stepped in were fantastic. We have a solid squad and you have to be ready. 3-0 away in the Champions League no matter who you play is a good result.”

Kane has 11 goals in September between club and country, and has six hat tricks in 2017. There may not be a finer big striker firing in Europe right now, and both England and Spurs will hope to ride him well into 2018.

A point from far from home is not the end of the world, but Liverpool will rue its missed chances in a 1-1 draw at Spartak Moscow in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

Goalkeeper Artyom Rebrov had a stellar day for Spartak before being injured and then replaced by Aleksandr Selikhov, who was also strong for the Russians.

Fernando (not that one) scored a free kick for Spartak, while Philippe Coutinho bagged the equalizer that keeps the Reds ahead of Spartak on goal difference. Both sides are three points behind Sevilla.

Hugo Lloris flubbed an early clearance and was fortunate to see the back-bounding ball dribble wide of his left post.

Carlao could’ve given APOEL a surprise lead close to halftime but headed wide of the net from within 10 yards.

Kane nearly added an assist to his ledger at the start of the second half, but Son Heung-min just missed his effort wide of the frame.

He scored another goal anyway, and another one. Moussa Sissoko set Kane up for the second of the night, a relatively simple finish for the striker, and Kane completed his trio of goals when he headed Kieran Trippier‘s cross home.